However if confiscation came about as above, what would the scenario be for other Precious Metals like Silver, Platinum etc.?

That's a tough one. I'm not even sure what gold would do under a confiscation scenario. Would investors liquidate ahead of the fact, or bid gold up in anticipation of being paid in fiat at the prevailing price when conversion takes effect? I guess it depends on whether you have an international arrangement that takes effect on the same day, similar to the introduction of the Euro, or if it happens piecemeal, one nation at a time.

I guess silver and platinum would catch a bid, since some gold investors would shift to them on the notion that they aren't pure monetary metal and would be left alone. OTOH, being industrial metals they might fall in response to the drop in trade my scenario suggests.

Truth is, I have no idea. I just feel that at some point a crisis will force nations to remonetize gold to support international trade. Exactly what form that takes or when it happens is hard to say, as is the effect on other markets. Energy and grains would be the most affected, since they're the critical trade items. How it plays out in other markets is anyone's guess at this point.

I think before this happens you'll see widespread nationalization of banks. That would be your tip-off I suppose. Already credit is tight with government taking an increasing role through back door mechanisms such as swaps and repos. International trade depends on credit from major banks, and if that starts to falter then nationalization is the logical next step on the way to remonetization.

All this is barring a major war in which case all bets are off. In that event you'd have post-war remonetization as a factor in restarting world trade, assuming of course there's anyone left to trade with.

Man, this predicting stuff is hard work!

ebear